Kate meets a gorgeous man at a bar who seems interested in her and goes out with him only to wind up getting kidnapped, brought to a strange underground village, and told he's actually a vampire. It's not until Kate spends some time with Hunter, the vampire who has chosen her, and Chase, her vampire bodyguard who's just as likely to lose control and eat her as he is to protect her, that she realizes she wasn't happy before and that she may actually get something good out of this afterall.

*I received a free ecopy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*

This book was such a pleasant surprise!

I have to admit, the cover didn’t give me the highest of hopes, and I try to stay away from books with less than 200 pages as it’s usually just not enough time for me to connect to the characters or really get into the story. But I am so glad I gave this book a chance.

First of all, it was funny, mostly thanks to Chase. He killed so many people, being a vampire and all, and pretty much just thought of humans as food or slaves, but it was because of those things and his general irritability and disgruntled-ness that he and his POV were so funny.

Second, I don’t normally go on about vampire books being “different” because I read vampire books for a reason—I like the tropes, some of them at least—but this book really did manage to put a unique and different twist on the usual while still not straying too far. The underground village was kind of inspired, and the octopus theory (though maybe a tad too literal) was original, but it was the romance that really took me by surprise. *SPOILER ALERT* I fully expected Kate to fall for the vampire who kidnapped her because he was the “good” one who had never even killed a human, but she was no Stockholm Syndrome victim and ended up falling for the murderous, human-scorning vampire instead. *END SPOILER ALERT* Also, just a note, there were no sexy, intimate biting scenes; there was an off-screen sex scene, but the biting was all about feeding for these vamps.

Third, that ending was also not what I expected, but I liked that the author stayed consistent and true to the story and went in that direction rather than forcing everything to be perfect. I also liked how it kind of brought things full circle in a way. It made me see the whole vampire village differently and actually understand the burden of the leader (the antagonist).

But ugh, the book was too short! I really liked it, which is why I would’ve liked to spend more time with the characters, gotten to know them better, delved deeper into their emotion, etc. It’s like the depth was there, but I was only allowed to swim at the surface rather than dive all the way to the bottom. And there’s no sequel as of the day I’m writing this, but that ending had so much potential for an intense sequel. Really I just wanted more of this book, and that’s my only real complaint.

(Ok, maybe the love happened rather quickly, but I honestly can’t call that a complaint because it still worked well enough and didn’t actually bother me.)

So overall, though this was a very short read, it was funny and a refreshing, unique twist on usual vampire romance tropes. I really enjoyed it!

Kate Plesser is leading a dead-end life as an office assistant with a penchant for bad relationships. She is lost. When Kate is kidnapped by Hunter, a gorgeous stranger, she assumes he is just some sick psychopath. She never suspects he is actually a vampire, and that she is about to be plunged into a world stranger than her wildest dreams. In the underground city where Hunter lives, she encounters his otherworldly cousin Chase, who holds the key to her freedom. She is thrust into a village where humans are farmed for feeding and breeding. In this mysterious new world beneath Queens, New York, Kate finds something she never expected.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a vampire book before? I usually think of steamy romance when I think of vampires. I’m not much for romance, and definitely not the steamy kind. But this sounds like it could be interesting. Except that I have no idea what vampire fiction tropes are. XD I have heard that Dracula is really good though and have been tempted to read it.

Whaaaaat?! My brain can’t fathom the idea that there are people out there who haven’t read even a single vampire book lol. Like, I read 44 of them in just 2015 alone and 20 so far this year, haha. But if you’re new to it, maybe this would be perfect since it’s not too heavy on all the vampire-ness. It’s just overall a great book. But believe it or not, I actually have not read Dracula :-/ I feel like a sorry excuse of a vampire lover for that lol, but I do plan to finally read it this year.

That cover wouldn’t have caught my attention and I wouldn’t have thought it was about vampires. I wonder why there is an octopus on the cover? Although you did mention an octopus theory in your review, so I assume the octopus on the cover does have a reason.

I don’t mind page length as much as you do, but I do agree that with shorter stories it can be hard to connect to the characters, but I have read enough good shorter reads to still give them a try. Some authros really manage to write good shorter reads.
Chase point of view sounds interesting with his disgruntled-ness and his opinion about humans. So this book has two point of views or more?

While I enjoy original books, if I pick up a vampire book for example I do expect some tropes and I like them. same with a lot of other paranormal books, although i always enjoy it when the author can give things an original twits without straying too far from some common/ typical tropes.

I like it that the romance took you by surprise, I totally clicked the spoiler as I wanted to know why ;). I have read some books where the romance moves fast where it really bothers me and others where I am okay with it, I guess it just depends on how it’s written and if I can feel their connection or not.

That’s too bad it wasn’t longer as it sounds like it had the potential for more, but who knows maybe the author will write a sequel eventually?

Exactly, the cover is not something that attracts me, and it doesn’t look like it’s about vampires. But yeah, the octopus is there because of the octopus theory in the book.

You do read more short stories and novellas than I do. And yes, the book mostly had 2 POVs, the girl and Chase. (There were like 2 short scenes from other POVs.) But Chase’s was the best lol.

I agree, there are certain tropes I like, certain ones I don’t, and it also depends on exactly how the author twists them and how the whole book is.

I figured some people might want to see the spoiler lol, and I figured it might actually make some people more interested in reading the book. And yeah, sometimes instalove type romance just works and doesn’t bother me for whatever reason.

She said she might write a sequel one day. If she does, I’ll definitely want to read it :-)

I remember that cover because octopus. That alone makes me curious lol. I like my vampire stories where the vamps are nasty and unhuman, but at the same time they can be a little sexy too (it’s a fine line), but that’s just me. Chase sounds like the kind of vamp I’d like, doesn’t have much use for humans other than prey. I’d be curious to see how plausibly the relationship develops. Nice that it was funny though too!

I guess about tropes it depends on the book. That’s not much of an answer but really it depends on my mood. Sometimes I don’t mind the usual stuff and other times I’m like “not that again.” ha ha so yeah it varies…

Haha, yes, I remember talking about the octopus with you. There was an “octopus theory” in the book though, so that’s the explanation. I too like my vampires both murderous and sexy lol. Actually, I’m ok with it if they just feed a little from humans without killing them, but none of that “only feed from animals” crap. And Chase was fun to read about.

Yeah, I agree, the trope thing really depends on a lot, like how the author uses them or twists them, how good the whole book is, my mood, etc. This one just twisted some of them well.

This sounds interesting! I like anything with even a small twist on vampires. I’m glad you liked his one, despite being short. I can see why you didn’t have high hopes due to the cover though. It’s a bit plain. Fantastic review!!!

I just love vampires period lol. And I really did like this one! But yeah, not a fan of the cover. I guess it’s a good example of one of those “don’t judge a book by its cover” books! Thanks :-D

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About Me

Hi! I’m Kristen, a twenty-something who loves reading, writing, and rambling. (I also love pomegranates, The Sims, nighttime, gymnastics, circus, and the color red, but that kinda kills the alliteration.) Stick around for book reviews, discussions about reading, and other random bookish things. I look forward to getting to know my fellow book lovers!!